How do you ruggedize your phone for the trail?

[Another Kevin]

I bring my phone on the trail to serve as a backup camera, a GPS, a notebook, the novel I'm reading, and so on. It's always in airplane mode while I'm Out There, because having marginal or no service drains the battery - so I carry it to be everything BUT a phone!

I now have a ruggedized phone that is just in a silicone sleeve. Before that I used one or another sort of IP68 case - Lifeproof, Otter Box, or Seidio.

Immersion-test the case before you use it.

[KDogg]

For my thru hike I started with an android phone in a ziplock. Phone failed/got wet when I got to the Smokies. Bought a new phone, a lifeproof case, and never had another problem. Guess it depends on where and when you are hiking but I knew and heard of several phones failing using a ziplock as a waterproof case.

[saltysack]

I use a LifeProof case - has worked great for me on multiple trips. I'm on my second one as I got a larger phone a couple years ago.

Great warranty also....get a new replacement only $5...


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[camper10469]

i can understand using the camera feature. leave it in airplane mode.

+1 there.

[tflaris]

Otter box Defender


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[TX Aggie]

Otter box Defender


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Agree, Otterbox is my go to.


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[cmoulder]

Whatever you use, don't put it in your back pocket while trail running.

Recently crunched my LG V20 doing just that... duh... slipped on some acorns or sticks covered by fall leaves. Damn glad I had the insurance, but even then it was a $149 (deductible) lesson — coulda been a lot more!

phone_01.jpgphone_02.jpgphone_03.jpg

[Leo L.]

Excellent opportunity to put in a new battery!

When outdoors, I usually put my phone in the thigh pocket.
When I went rock climbing with my old friend again after many years, I did the same.
During climbing, I'm so much in an Adrenaline rush, I don't notice tearing a trousers, minor injury and such - all attention is 150% on the climbing itself.
Only at the end of the climbing session when I wanted to call my wife to get the Pizza ready I realized that the phone was cracked - not too far off from your sample.

[squeezebox]

So how much does the otterbox weigh by itself?

[Game Warden]

I leave it home.

[tflaris]

So how much does the otterbox weigh by itself?

Unsure. It’s worth it’s weight in gold to me. The first time you drop your phone and it bounces on 6 rocks without any damage.

Weightless.....


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[DownEaster]

So how much does the otterbox weigh by itself?

In my case, nothing at all.

The answer depends on the particular model. Unfortunately, Otterbox hasn't kept up with a lot of the newer phones and they don't make one to fit the Moto G4.

[cmoulder]

I leave it home.

That's nice, but that wasn't the question.

As mentioned by others, some of us use the other features and bring them on the trail with us — horrors!

Back in the day I used to carry a 35mm SLR and a tripod.... that thing weighed one helluva lot more than my 7.37 oz phone.